squeeze steeping bag

[sdufford]

Do you guys squeeze out the steeping bag a bit before removing? I did last night. I got a lot of rich looking liquid out of it, hope that was a good idea! :rockin:

 

[BlackDogBrewing]

Don't squeeze your sack...just pull it out and let it drain as much as possible.

 

[Hang Glider]

My first couple of brews I did this back in 2001 - I didn't know better. And they turned out awful. Didn't know why!

It is a bad idea, even though it looks good. Steep, and rinse. rinse only!!!! Squeezing imparts the tannins from the husks, giving you a bitter (NOT Hoppy) flavor. Kind of like sucking on leather....

Learn early - next batch, rinse.
Welcome to Home brewing - you're in the right place to ask questions!

 

[pr0cess]

Would putting the bag in a strainer (NOT dumping the grain just putting the grain filled bag in) and pouring water over it be a bad idea too? Seems like a Fakey-sparge to drain out the goodies but I don't know Im still learning.

 

[likwidbliss]

Don't squeeze your bag!

 

[Revvy]

Don't squeeze your sack...just pull it out and let it drain as much as possible.

There's no reason not to squeeze.....that's another old brewer's myth that has been misunderstood...and has been shot down..But if often just get's repeated as ROTE without anyone stopping to look beyond the just repeating the warning...

Read this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/do-you-squeeze-bag-biab-177051/?highlight=squeeze

And this.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/squeezing-grain-bag-bad-175179/?highlight=squeeze

From Aussie Homebrewer.com

Tannins And Astringency

If you are worried about squeezing your bag too much or crushing too fine, relax! Astringent beers do not come from finely crushed or squeezed husks but come rather from a combination of high temperatures and high pH. These conditions pull the polyhenols out of the husk. The higher your pH and the higher temperature you expose your grain to, the worse the problem becomes. Any brewer, traditional or BIAB, should never let these conditions arrive. If you do allow these conditions to arrive, then you will find yourself in exactly the same position as a traditional brewer. Many commercial breweries actually hammer mill their grain to powder for use in mash filter systems because they have control of their pH and temperatures. This control (and obviously expensive complex equipment) allows them non-astringent beers and “into kettle,” efficiencies of over 100%.

As long as you keep your steeping temps below 170, you won't be producing those supposed tannins that folks blindly say you would be squeezing out.

 

[sdufford]

Hmm, now just to clarify, this is an malt extract w/ crushed malt kit...so the grain bag I'm referring to is just the crushed malt that the recipe told me to steep for 5 minutes. No mashing or anything.

I was told to bring the water to a boil with the bag of crushed malt and then immediately take off the burner, let sit for 5 minutes. I am a bit worried about you saying keep the temp below 170- obviously if I reached boil the temp was way above that for a few minutes.

More thoughts?

 

[GroosBrewz]

Don't squeeze your sack...just pull it out and let it drain as much as possible.

wow.. that sounds really naughty...

 

[Revvy]

That's bad grain handling practice. You should never bring your grains up that high. In this case squeezing would be a bad thing. Next time, put your grain bacg in the water, heat the water til it reached 150 degrees, lower the flame/stove temp and let it sit at 150 for 20 minutes to a half hour, lift the bag up, pour a quart of hot water (under 170- I used to just use hot tap water) over the bag into the pot....

And then you can squeeze if you want to, since you haven't produced tannins.

 

[Yooper]

Hmm, now just to clarify, this is an malt extract w/ crushed malt kit...so the grain bag I'm referring to is just the crushed malt that the recipe told me to steep for 5 minutes. No mashing or anything.

I was told to bring the water to a boil with the bag of crushed malt and then immediately take off the burner, let sit for 5 minutes. I am a bit worried about you saying keep the temp below 170- obviously if I reached boil the temp was way above that for a few minutes.

More thoughts?

Those directions are a bit different than the procedure most of us use. You don't want to get your grains above 170 degrees. Many of us heat up the water, and add the grains to the water when the water is about 160 degrees. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes, then lift out the grain bag and pour clear water over it to rinse (if you want to- not required!).

Bringing the grains to a boil first isn't a good idea, but since it's such a small amount of grains you probably won't notice any off-tastes from it.

 

[jjones17]

In case someone still does not understand, in a nutshell Revvy is saying:

1) If your PH is off, your beer will extract tanins from the husks whether you squeeze or not

2) If your PH is ok, squeeze away! (hey that rhymes!)

 

[Revvy]

In case someone still does not understand, in a nutshell Revvy is saying:

1) If your PH is off, your beer will extract tanins from the husks whether you squeeze or not

2) If your PH is ok, squeeze away! (hey that rhymes!)

Close...

Let me amend it...ready?

In case someone still does not understand, in a nutshell Revvy is saying:

1) If your PH is off, or your steeping/mashing temp is above 170, your beer will extract tanins from the husks whether you squeeze or not

2) If your PH is ok, and your temps were below 170, squeeze away! (hey that rhymes!)[/QUOTE]

You're a poet and you don't even know it.

 

[sdufford]

Well, so since it's not only dependent on temp but PH as well, do I need to add a PH check to my steps? Or is this a bit overkill? If so, what's the best way to go about doing that, and altering the PH if appropriate?

 

[Revvy]

Well, so since it's not only dependent on temp but PH as well, do I need to add a PH check to my steps? Or is this a bit overkill? If so, what's the best way to go about doing that, and altering the PH if appropriate?

Overkill, especially if you are partial mashing. Just worry more about water temp right now. I brew mostly allgrain, have medaled for a few of my beers, and even I haven't started playing with my ph yet.

 

[sdufford]

Yeah, I'm not even doing partial mash. Just extract (+steeped grains).

Thanks everyone for all the info! I'll be sure to keep an eye on the temp, and not squeeze just for good measure.

 

[Mermaid]

I just read this thread, hope I did not nuke my first batch because I um.. gently squeezed the (steeping) bag.

I know the pH of our water, in general is up around 8 or so (at least it was before we had the "water crisis" here in eastern MA not long ago). I steeped at water between 160-170. It's going to suck waiting another 3+ weeks to see if I ruined it.

Live and learn, indeed!

 

[Revvy]

I just read this thread, hope I did not nuke my first batch because I um.. gently squeezed the (steeping) bag.

I know the pH of our water, in general is up around 8 or so (at least it was before we had the "water crisis" here in eastern MA not long ago). I steeped at water between 160-170. It's going to suck waiting another 3+ weeks to see if I ruined it.

Live and learn, indeed!

Or you could just relax and realize that it is harder than you think to ruin your beer.

 

[Mermaid]

Or you could just relax and realize that it is harder than you think to ruin your beer.

That's what I'm hoping, Revvy. It smelled really good when I put it in the fermenter. I'll just let nature take it's course, and see what happens.

 

[DrinkinSurfer]

Squeezing the grain bag gives you extra tannins. Let it drip out. Or pour hot water over it.

 

[Revvy]

Squeezing the grain bag gives you extra tannins. Let it drip out. Or pour hot water over it.

No it doesn't Haven't you read the last 13 posts of this thread?

If you didn't produce the tannis through ph or too high a water temp to begin with, then there are no tannins to be squeezed out.

That's one of those brewing wives tales that people mindlessly repeat, without even understanding what they've heard.Quit perpetuating that myth.

 

[DrinkinSurfer]

I guess my sarcasm wasn't blatant enough. My bad.

 

[artyboy]

Whenever I do a partial mash I always squeeze my bag. Nothing but compliments on the resulting beers here.

 

[iron_city_ap]

Well, so since it's not only dependent on temp but PH as well, do I need to add a PH check to my steps? Or is this a bit overkill? If so, what's the best way to go about doing that, and altering the PH if appropriate?

If you are using well water, you may want to check it once just so you know approximately what you are working with, but I would say 99.9% of the time you are fine without tweaking the water.

I was talking to the owner of the local microbrewery about water and making adjustments and he said 'the people at Guiness aren't trying to make their beer taste like somebody else's beer'. It really makes alot of sense to me ever since then.